Feed-rack



M. V. WIDHELM.

FEED RACK.

APPLICATION man ocT.2,1919.

Patented SQpt. 13, 1921.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET A510/enfer."-

Mr/ve 9S.

M. Vl WIDHELM.

' FEED RACK.

PPLlcATloN FILED ocL 2. 1919 Patenasept. 13, 1921. y

V ZSHEETS SHEET 2.

panying drawings, in which-'- A MARGEARET V.V WIDHELM, or rnnlvron'r, niais':alaskaV 'i 'FEED-RACK? To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, :MARGARET WID- HELM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Fremont, in the county of Dodge and Racks', ofwhich the followingis a specifica mal and which will be operated by the 'ani mal to automatically Vcut off andV establish va flow of feed-into the feedingtrough Aor re-V ceptacle.A Ac further'object `of the v,invention is to-provide a construction which will con-v trol'the amount of feed `rendered` accessible to the animal at ,any time'and also topro-- vide means which will prevent How of the feed while the animal -i`s eat'ing.` 'Y

The invention is illustrated in the accom- Figure 1 isa 'vertical section of a f eedra'ck or hopper y embodying my improvements Fig.' 2 is a horizontal section on the line 2-20fFig-p1;, l

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, sho-wing a larger form'of the invention.A I A I Aln carrying out the invention, I lemploy a'hopper or lbin consisting,as shown inFig.

le, of aback wall land side walls 2,'the side walls being connected by cross strips 3 andl at their upper and lower ends whereby an opening is provided intheV front of ythe'bin for hopper through which the feeding animal may insert his head. Thebottom of the V hop5 per is constructed of a plate of sheet metal or similar material havinga rear'p'ortion extendlngbetwe'en the sid-e walls 2" and vabut-k ting the backwall 1, said vrear `portion 5 being disposed above the extreme loweredges'of the back andl side walls, as clearly".A

shown. At the front edge ofthe rear portion 5 is a downwardly and `forwardlylin'-4 clined wall 6 V'whichconstitutes av slide down which the feed Vmay lpass top rest -upo-n the frontfportion? vofthe bottom wh-ichconstitutes a feeding trough, said portion 7 :being extended upwardly and forwardly and terminating at the upper edge of the lower.

'y Appnc'ationnieaV'octobere, 1319.'- fseriai Nb. 32u74.

admission ofthe feed.

" Sweetie@refereed@' Paten-ed Sept. 13,1921.

cross'strip 4, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. A partition 8 is disposed between the side walls, 2 of thebin or hopperl andthelower edge 9 of this, partition isspaced from the bottomV of the device and also fromvthe slide portion 6 of the saine so lthat an opening is providedA in vrear of and below thepartition' through which the feed may passV into` the feeding trough. The Vupper portion ofthe. partition is curv'edforwardly and meets the cross strip Spsok that a'large space is provided between thepartition, the back wall andthe side l walls to contain-the feed. The feed is,vof course, placed in 'thefbin through the top thereof which may be closed by a lid or cover 10 -o'f anyconvenient form, the Vportion ofthe bin or hofpperabovevthe partition'beingflared, as shown at10, to facilitate the A sliding valve or cut-off 11 is lsupported ofnftherear portion 5 vof the bottom of the loin and'this valvewmay be fitted in guides 12, as shown. `On the upp'erside of the valve adjacent the rear edge thereof isa lug 13 in which is rsecuredone end of a link 14, thel front end'of said'linkbeing attached to the lowerendof a. lever 15' which is fulcrumed upon: a cross rod 16 disposedvin thelower lportion of the bin andi-securedv inand eX,-

ten'ding between the side walls-2.l Theupper end of thel leverA 15 is pivoted tothe inner orrear end of a push barlwhich extends through' a slot 18 in the partition 8 and has its front end engaged in an eye 19 on the inner or rear Iside/'of aY swinging'door orV guard/20;" The said door or guard 2 0 is pivotalljy supported at its upper end adjacent the cross' strip Sfand 'at its lower end is provided with a stop lip 21 adapte-d to im? p'inge against the trough portion '7 ofthe bottom of the device and thereby be pre` vented 'from swinging thrqughthe feeding opening. An inclined deflecting plate 22 isY secured between the lower portion of the sidev walls 2 and extendsfrom the back wall v1 to the shelf or-elevated rear portion 5 of the bottom of thev device so asto prevent the feed `accumulating at the back of the bin and checking the operation of the working parts.

The lower edge of the -deector 2 2 is pro#l vided -with a notch or slot u23` throughwhich the link-` 14 plays as 4will Vbe readily undeiV1` stood. i A

Itvwill be noted that; the guardor door 20 j is arcuate'in'form so that it will be heavier than a straight door of dimensions sufficient to cover the feeding opening. The door will, therefore, positively swing toward the front of the device and will cover the feeding opening so that it must be operated by the feeding animal. In the normal position of the parts, as shown in full lines in Fig. 1, the door is in closed position and the push bar 17 will be brought forward so that the lever l5 will hold the slide or cut-off at the rear limit o-f its movement. In this position of the parts, sufficient feed may flow into the trough to cover the opening or space below the .partition 8. When an animal desires ,to feed he will push against the door or guard 20 and will thereby move the parts to the position shown in dotted lines so that the cut-off or valve will be brought forward and abut the partition and therebycut-off further flow of the feed. The animal may then consume all the feed which may be in the trough 7 but cannot get more than said amount. so that over-feeding and waste of the food will be prevented. After feeding, theanimal will, of course, Withdraw his headv and the guard 2O will' swing to the closedV position thereby returning the valve to its initialrear position and permitting a further supply of feed to flow into' the trough and the feed can only flo-w until the space below the partition has been covered.

As shownin Fig. 2 and as will be readily understood, the invention is not limited to a single bin but a row of bins may be con-V structed side by side, the fulcruming rod V16 extending through the entire row of bins. The side walls of the bins may be constructed with lateral flanges 24 secured to the strips Sand -L which will Vbe common to all the bins in the row, the bins being thereby held together, in fixed relation. Moreover, as shown in Fig. 3, two rows of bins may be placed back touback and firmly secured together sov that a large number of animals may be fed. The corners of the device may be reinforcedV and securedby angle bars 25 which'will impart strength to the structure and. prevent separation of the end walls from theparts connected therewith. Flanges or cleats 26 on the end walls at the upper edges of the same are slidably engaged by the grooved lips 27 on the lidv 10, said lid being constructed with a stop lip 28 at its upper edge to engage the peak or ridge of the top and thereby prevent the lid sliding downwardly off the device. A rail 29 on the lid serves as a handle whereby it may be opened..y

.The device is exceedingly simple in c:its construction and is positive and efficient in its operation. f By its use the animals will be plentifully fed but will be prevented' from gormandizing so that they will be maintained in a healthy condition.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new isf:

l. A device'for the purpose described comprising a bin having an opening in its front side and having an intermediate partition terminating near its bottom, a cut-off in rear of said partitionk and movable toward and from the same, a swinging guard normally covering the feeding opening, and operative connections between the said guard and the cut-off whereby flow vof feed will be controlled. l

2. A device for the purpose set forth comprising a bin having a feeding opening,A in its front side, an'intermediate partition terminating short of the bottom of the bin, a shelf in the lower portion of the bin in rear of th-e partition, a valveslidably mounted on said shelf and movable toward .andvfrom the partition, a swinging guard mounted above the feeding opening andadapted to cover the same, and connections between said guard and the valve whereb flow of feed will be cut-olf when the fee ing opening is uncovered. v

3. A device for the purpose set forth comprising al bin having a feeding opening in one side and having an intermediate partition terminating short of its bottom, a shelf in the lowerportion of the bin in rear of said partition, an-vinclined gdeflector extending from the *backV of the bin to said shelf, a

valve slidably mounted on said shelf and adapted to abut the partition, a swinging guard arranged to cover or uncover the feeding opening, and operative connections between said guardandthe valve.

4. A device for the purpose set forth comprising a bin having a' feeding opening in V its front wall, a' partition within the bin intermediate the front and `back walls thereof, said partition being provided with a slot in its upper portion, a'guard mounted for swinging movement above the feeding open-A ing Vand adapted to cover and uncover the same, a vertically disposed lever pivoted within the bin in rear of; the partition, aV valve connected with the lower end ofl saidI 

